A little honest insight about the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) from a blog that ranked in the Top 100 of MLB.com Fan Blogs of 2012-14

A look back to the day Marco Scutaro was acquired by the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants’ Marco Scutaro celebrates after Game 7 of baseball’s National League championship series against the St. Louis Cardinals Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. The Giants won 9-0 to win the series. Scutaro was named the series MVP. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

I went back to the story posted on SFGiants.com of the Giants’ acquisition of Marco Scutaro on July 27 and looked at the comments.

Here’s a sampling…

“Dodgers get Ramirez….Giants go out and add Scutaro. I guess that’s fair. *cough*not*cough*”

“TURN AROUND AND GO BACK TO COLORADO SCUTERO , WE DONT WANT YOU HERE> unless you’re Hnter pence, this year goes to the dodgers because a 36 year old geezer isnt going to get us anywhere close to the post season”

“Get yourself a real ballplayer…like Hanley Ramirez…not a 36 year old washup player.”

“Looks like the Giants are back to their old ways, trading for a old washed up player. Best they can do before the trading deadline???”

And then there was my personal favorite from a Dodgers fan.

“this is Sabean’s answer to the Hanley Ramirez trade? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I was on a vacation in late July when the Giants made their two deadline deals, acquiring Scutaro and Hunter Pence.

The only Giants news I was getting during my vacation were the scores of the games. I actually didn’t hear of the Scutaro deal until two days later when I checked the score of the game on my phone and noticed Scutaro’s name in the Giants box score.

Not all of the comments to the Scutaro deal were negative. Many fans had the same reaction that I did.

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I thought that Scutaro would provide some depth and versatility, especially with Sandoval headed for another DL stint. Plus, one of the Giants’ weaknesses at the time was their bench.

So I liked the deal to an extent. But it wasn’t nearly as splashy as the Dodgers’ get of Hanley Ramirez.

But the most telling comment at the time of the Scutaro deal came from Dodgers’ second baseman Mark Ellis, a teammate of Scutaro in Oakland.

“He’ll help them a lot,” Ellis said. “He can play a lot of different positions and he gets big hits for you. He’ll play a huge role; he always does. Every team he’s on, he has a huge impact on that team.”

Let’s call him “Nostraellis” from here on.

When the Giants acquired Scutaro, he was hitting .271 with 4 HR and 30 RBI in 95 games. And he did that playing in Colorado, the best hitters park in the majors.

In 61 games with the Giants — playing in the WORST hitters park — he hit .362 with 3 HR, 44 RBI. He had just as many doubles (16) with the Giants as he did with the Rockies and almost as many runs (40 in SF, 47 in Colorado).

Scutaro played 15 of his first 17 games with the Giants at third base, while Sandoval mended from a hamstring injury. After Sandoval returned from the DL, Scutaro played exclusively at second base.

The Giants said Scutaro was not acquired to replace Ryan Theriot at second base. But after hitting safely in 14 of his first 17 games with the Giants (batting .294 over that span), there was no getting Scutaro out of the lineup. From Aug. 16, Theriot started just three games at second base.

And Scutaro’s production simply grew from there.

This blogger has long talked about the importance of the Giants making contact in contact situations — i.e. runner on third with fewer than two outs. At Scutaro is the perfect player in that situation. He’s also important in the No. 2 hole, the ideal hit-and-run situation. We saw that in Game 7 Monday.

In the postseason, Scutaro bounced back from a sub-par NLCS vs. the Reds, when he hit .150 (3 for 20). But he didn’t strike out in that series.

In the NLCS, Scutaro’s knocks began finding holes. He hit .500 (14 for 28) with three doubles, six runs, four RBI and two walks. Plus he played a slick second base and showed grittiness in battling back from the Holliday chop block in Game 2.

So for all of you Brian Sabean haters out there, consider this.

The last two Giants to be named MVPs of the National League Championship Series … Cody Ross and Marco Scutaro … two players acquired by Sabean after the All-Star break.

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